Monthly Speaker Series

White-Tailed Deer and Invasive Plants

March 7, 2012
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

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QRWA Headquartes
540 Oregon Road 
Meriden, CT 06451
› Driving Directions

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Overabundant white-tailed deer cause more harm than most people know. They are responsible for increased collisions with vehicles and increased blacklegged (“deer”) tick abundances and also shape our ecosystem by consuming many native species, allowing exotic invasives to proliferate. Research shows that where exotic invasives are abundant, so too are blacklegged ticks with increased infection prevalence with the Lyme disease-causing spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Not only are overabundant deer negatively impacting human health by increasing the abundance of exotic invasive plants, they also disperse their seeds.

Bio:
Scott Williams received his BA from Connecticut College, Master’s of Environmental Studies from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Ph. D. in Natural Resources from the University of Connecticut.  He is currently a research scientist in the Department of Forestry and Horticulture at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, where he has worked for the past 12 years.  Scott’s research focuses on the deleterious impacts of overabundant deer on native ecosystems and human health.

 

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